Writing History
by those words are not enough
Summary: Lily and James are Heads, and things are getting interesting.  But other than going through their last year at Hogwarts, they must go through changes within the Wizarding World.  Joining them are Remus, Sirius, Peter, Alice, Frank, and Marlene.
1. Chapter 1

Lily ran her fingers over the rough exterior of the brick column in between platforms nine and ten. It bricks tickled her fingertips. She sighed as she realized that this would be the last time she would be going on the train to Hogwarts. She would not even be going on the train for Christmas. She had decided to spend Christmas at Hogwarts for the first time, since it would be her last chance to do so. It would also be her last time going through the column to go to the school. She remembered how much it fascinated her the first time she walked through. She felt like a superhero in a comic book, being able to walk through walls.

She glanced over her shoulder one last time, shooting her parents a smile. Her parents would not be coming across with her. They had to hurry up and go back to Petunia, who was always extremely impatient. They were helping her plan her wedding that would take place in spring. Petunia had planned it so that Lily would not be able to attend.

"Don't forget to write, sweetie!" Her mom said, waving at her. They had already gone through the hugs and the emotional goodbyes.

"Petunia wanted to be here, too, but you know how the wedding has been on her. She has just been completely busy." Her dad tried so hard to be positive. He was always an optimist, but both he and Lily knew Petunia wouldn't have shown up even if she had all the time in the world.

She threw them one last look and a wave and went through the wall. She felt a strange sensation go throughout her body as she walked through. It was not nearly as thrilling as it had been seven years before, but it was interesting nonetheless.

When she got to the other side, she made sure to move out of the way as quickly as possible. In her first year, she had been so engrossed by the experience and her surroundings that she hadn't moved out of the way quick enough. She had blocked the passageway and had the unfortunate experience of almost being trampled by people coming through. She had a small figure, so if it hadn't been for her friend, now former friend, Severus, pushing her out of the way, there was no knowing what could've happened. It had been seven years before, but Lily was still slightly paranoid.

She scanned the platform. She hadn't seen many of her friends over the break. A few of them were traveling, or they were just busy. Also, Petunia refused to allow friends to come over to Lily's house. It was a sensitive topic at the Evans' house.

She saw a few familiar faces, but none that she was particularly looking for. She said hello to a few people passing by, just to be friendly.

She suddenly spotted someone just a few meters away from her. The person turned around, and Lily immediately recognized their round face. Her black hair barely touched her shoulders. She had gotten a haircut over the summer.

"Alice!" Lily said, running towards the girl with joy to her step. She hadn't seen Alice for almost three months. Her family had been in France all summer. Though she was happy that her friend got to go through such an amazing vacation, she had been very disappointed in the fact that her best friend would not be in the same country as her over the summer.

"How have you been? How was France? How was summer? Did you have a good time? Have you seen Marlene yet?" Lily asked, even more questions coming to mind as she continuously sprouted words out.

Her speaking speed was beginning to resemble a muggle rapper.

"Slow down there Lily," Alice said, clamping one of her hands over her friend's mouth. "I've been good. France was absolutely wonderful. I will show you pictures tonight at the dorm. I had an amazing time. No, I have not seen Marlene, yet. You're the first I've seen so far. I see you're very excited to go back to school." Alice said, answering all Lily's questions and even throwing in a slight remark at the end.

Alice was used to Lily being like this when she was excited.

"Oh, and Alice, I have a surprise," Lily mentioned.

Alice opened her eyes a bit wider than usual. She had a slight idea of what it might've been, but she didn't want to mention it, just in case it wasn't what she was thinking.

Lily took something out of one of the bags on her trolley cart. It gleamed, reflecting some of the sunlight shining down on them.

"I knew it. I knew it! I KNEW IT!" Alice screamed, "Well, we'll add another nickname to the list. Head Girl. HG."

Lily let out a light laugh while rolling her eyes at her friend's humor. She, however, was still beaming. She had wanted to be Head Girl, but she had never expected it would actually happen. She could just imagine the Slytherins' faces when they found out, especially considering Lily was what they considered "unworthy" of the position.

They chatted for a few more minutes before Lily noticed another figure from the corner of her eye. Although she could only see their back from her field vision, she automatically knew who it was. The light brown hair and pale skin were extremely familiar. If they did not give him away, then she could also see a few scars that were scattered on his arm. They were "battle wounds".

She laughed, instantly taking off to greet her friend.

"REMUS!"

Remus turned around, not recognizing the voice immediately. He looked over his shoulder quickly, and once he saw the owner of the voice, a smile grew on his lips. If the dark red hair was not a complete giveaway, her bright green eyes were. He chuckled and hugged her.

Lily Evans was Remus's closest friend, not including the Marauders.

Lily had actually been his first friend at Hogwarts (even before the Marauders). This was because at the beginning of his first year, he had been sort of anti-social. The fact that he was a werewolf scared him so much that he had denied any person who had wanted to be friends. He had a habit of closing up and turning people away. People struck him as odd. Lily Evans was not one of them.

She would sit with him in the Library, striking conversation with him at any chance she could get. After a couple of months, however, Lily had found out about his lycanthropy. Lily had always been a bright girl and the fact that he was never in school during the full moon and that he looked positively awful after them gave his secret away. Plus, his excuses were pretty weird. He was thankful, however, that it had been Lily who figured it out, and not someone else. She would never tell anyone.

Remus didn't even know she knew until almost six months after she found out. Lily never thought of him different. She treated him exactly the same, making it kind of hard to figure out that she knew. She would continuously talk to him, her smile never faltering. Even his four friends were a bit strange after he had told them about his "furry problem", but Lily Evans was different.

There were just some people like that in the world. On the rare occasion, you meet people like Lily Evans who are abnormally kind, but not too obvious about it. Remus appreciated her friendship.

Remus smiled at the memory of their first meetings. Lily didn't see this small flashback moment and continued to talk.

"I haven't seen you in ages," Lily said excitedly, "How was your summer?"

"Great, if you don't count the little problem I happen to have." He said, grinning despite the mentioning of his lycanthropy. He was used to it by now.

Lily smiled as Alice also ran towards the two.

"So, where's your little posse group?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow. It was unusual to see one without the other three of the Marauders. They were a tight knit group.

"Surprisingly, I haven't seen them." Remus said, also wondering about the whereabouts of his friends. All three of them glanced around their surroundings.

"Don't tell me, they're planning another prank this year?" Lily said, a suspicious glint in her eyes. She turned towards Remus. "Do you know anything? Don't you dare try to protect them either, you're not supposed to abuse your job as a prefect! Plus, I'm Head Girl, I'm supposed to prevent this."

Remus shook his head. He was actually being honest this time, though he doubted that they weren't playing a prank. The thing was, Remus didn't particularly like to be involved in them much after the Snape situation in fifth year. The Slytherin had been taunted by James, only to be stopped by Lily. Though Remus did not include himself in the bullying, he had done nothing to stop it, something he regretted. He was bothered by it and after that incident, he was present for James's ideas, but never participated as much as he had used to.

"They might be planning one without me. They don't need four for a prank of theirs. Sometimes we even leave out James or Sirius, our masterminds," Remus said, a smirk growing on his face, "Wait, Lily, did you just say you were Head Girl?"

Lily nodded, a smile growing on her face at the mentioning of her new position.

A small smile grew on Remus's face. _This would be interesting._ "Lily, you do know that James is -"

"Talking about us, are you?" A voice said from behind them, cutting off Remus.

Lily suddenly felt an arm slip across her shoulders. The arm suddenly moved, pulling her towards it's owner. She looked up at the culprit behind the arm attack. His dark hair was messy, as usual, and his hazel eyes gleamed while looking down at her. He grinned

"Hi, Evans," He said, his face a bit too close to hers for comfort.

She scowled.

She used her thumb and her index finger to remove and pluck the hand off her shoulder. She stepped to the side, moving even further away from the boy. School hadn't even started, and she already had to deal with his mischief.

"Potter, could you stop touching me without my permission. It's rather bothersome," She said, glaring at him.

"Aw, and here I thought we were growing closer." James said, a mischievous look in his eyes.

He was moving his arm to find its place on her shoulder again. He was blocked by Lily's glare, however.

"Not even in your dreams, Potter."

"But I bet I'm in your dreams, Evans."

He shot her a wink.

"More like my nightmares."

James no longer tried to put his arm around the girl, but he inched closer to her, ignoring her refusals and her comments to get him away.

Lily suddenly felt a presence behind her.

"Lily-kins!"

Lily groaned as she saw yet another unwanted visitor.

"Sirus Black, did I not tell you to _never _call me Lily-Kins! My name is Lily. Li-ly! HOW HARD IS THAT?" She yelled, fuming.

She hated it when people gave her pet names. She didn't mind Lily, Lils, and a few other things that Alice called her, but everything Sirius made up was a little cheesy and immature. He was just used to girls liking those little pet names. Girls around the school loved him for his handsome features and seemingly "irresistible" charm, but Lily just knew him as an infamous troublemaker and playboy, who was just as bad as people like Potter. She had to admit he was good-looking, though. It was just a fact.

"Hi Lily." She heard a smaller voice from her side. She turned around to find herself facing Peter Pettigrew. He was around the same height as Lily, which always made her feel better. The rest of the Marauders were at _least _a head taller than her, most likely more. She always liked Peter, for he tried hard in school (though he still did poorly) and he was a nice, quiet boy. She just didn't like how he had always participated in the ruthless pranks of his friends. She didn't particularly know him that well, however.

"Hi Peter." She said, giving him a small smile and a light hug.

"So, no one says hi to me, eh?" Alice said, grinning as she gave all four of them a hug. Lily twitched at this. Alice was always friends with everyone, even people like Sirius and James, but when she got mad she was ALMOST as bad as Lily. She, however, found the boys' tricks and pranks to be a rather interesting choice of entertainment.

She suddenly heard yet another voice scream her name.

"LILY EVANS!" She heard. _Who is it this time?_

She turned, but this time she was ecstatic to see the person whom the voice belonged to. She easily recognized the girl with her dirty blonde hair and big brown eyes.

"Marlene McKinnon, what am I going to do with you?" She asked, throwing her arms around the girl. "I haven't heard from you since three weeks ago!"

"Sorry, it was my punishment after I taunted my brother. He just went to mum, and mum took my owl privileges away," Marlene grumbled, "Stupid, good-for-nothing brother."

Lily rolled her eyes and hugged her friend yet again. She had visited Marlene a few times during the summer, but she had still missed her.

"So, there was no enthusiastic response for the Marauders, but you're so excited for Marlene," Sirius said, pouting, "I'm disappointed, Lily-kins. I thought we were best mates. "

"That's not true. I was happy to see Remus, and I was nice to Peter," She said winking at the boy, "And pouting doesn't work on me, Black. You know that."

Sirius shrugged. "It never hurts to try, but Lily-kins, I'm hurt. You give everyone a hug except for me?"

"I didn't give James one."

"But, that's obvious. I thought we were pals," He said, smirking.

Lily rolled her eyes at the boy. His grey eyes always seemed to have the same playful glow. Lily allowed Sirius to lean down and give her a light hug.

"Wait, so I'm the only one that didn't get a hug from Evans?" James said, frowning, "That's just unfair."

"Too bad, Potter," Lily said, "Life is unfair."

James scrunched his nose up. "That's so cliche."

"I think we should be getting on the train right about now." Alice said, already pulling her trunk up the steps into the train.

The others followed suit.

"Remus and I'll see you, later. We have prefect and Head duties," Lily said. She was officially going to start her new job as the Head Girl. She was a bit curious to know who would be Head Boy. She had half expected Remus to be Head Boy, but considering he didn't mention it, it was probably not it. She at least had Remus for the prefect and Head joint meetings.

She disappeared down the hall of the train, Remus following her as they chattered about their summer holidays.

That's when she suddenly realized that someone else was coming along with them. She looked behind Remus, trying to see who was following them.

"Potter, what are you doing?"

"I'm boarding the train?"

James had a confused expression on his face. That's when his face lit up, as if he realized something.

"Moony, you didn't tell her?" James asked, a grin on his face.

"I was going to, but I didn't get the chance."

Lily narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Tell me what?"

Something didn't sound right. Also, James was smirking, and he had a mischievous glint to his eyes. This usually meant that something wasn't right.

Lily looked up at James, waiting for him to answer.

"I'm Head Boy."


	2. Chapter 2

Lily sat on one of the ends of the Gryffindor table. She had just welcomed a few first years into the house before taking her seat next to Marlene and in front of Alice. She was still slightly in shock over the fact that James Potter was Head Boy. It just didn't seem right. James Potter, rules, Head Boy – all those words just didn't fit together.

"I still can't believe it," Lily thought out loud.

Alice shot her a look. "You've been saying that over and over for the past hour or two."

"Well, I guess it just won't sink in."

"How was the train ride? Was there any more problems?"

Lily shrugged. "We didn't really do anything but introduce ourselves, but still, do you think Dumbledore's having a hard time? Maybe he hit his head or something. Or maybe a charm backfired on him. It just doesn't seem right."

"I'm sure Dumbledore has a reason for choosing him."

Lily nodded. She would have to get over it eventually. She shot a look at the other end of the table, where a group of four guys were fooling around. She couldn't help but shoot a glare at one of them.

She thought of how she would survive the year when her thoughts were interrupted by her friend.

"Hey, what do you two think about Frank Longbottom?" Alice asked, her eyes twinkling with expectation.

Marlene didn't seem to hear her. She usually concentrated on her food more than anything, especially during meal times. She was shoveling down some chicken salad at the moment, and even if she had heard the question, she would have to wait until she finally finished chewing and swallowing to say anything whatsoever. Considering the enormous about of food she had stuffed in her mouth, it would take awhile to hear her answer.

The only reason Marlene didn't look she ate that much was because of her other obsession – Quidditch. She was the keeper for the Gryffindor team.

Lily, however, was paying attention to the conversation. At first she raised an eyebrow and then she cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment. "I suppose he's okay. He's really nice. He does pretty well in school and overall, I approve." Once she was done with her brief evaluation of the boy, she sent her friend a wink in order to show her approval. She loved Frank as a person. He was what one would call a gentleman.

Alice turned slightly pink as she looked at her friend. "I didn't mean it like that," Alice said, obviously lying through her teeth.

Lily held in her laughter while watching Alice bite her lip with embarrassment.

"But you did mean it. You fancy Frank Longbottom," Lily said, snickering. It was always fun to tease Alice considering it was usually the other way around. One of Alice's favorite choices of entertainment was teasing Lily.

Alice, who sat across from her at the Gryffindor table, leaned over and tickled Lily with revenge, causing the red head to break out into a fit of giggles. She was extremely ticklish. It was one of her only weaknesses. Some students at the table stared, but others didn't mind. The Great Hall was usually a rambunctious place so laughing was no rare scene.

Marlene had finally swallowed her food and shot them a confused look. "What did I miss?" She asked, oblivious to what had happened.

Alice rolled her eyes at Marlene before going back to tickling the laughing Lily.

"Alice... fan...cie...s...Frankie..." Lily managed to get out in between her laughter.

Marlene widened her eyes at Alice. Luckily, Lily had not said it loud enough for anyone else to hear, but Marlene wasn't particularly aware of how they were in a public place.

"FRANK? FRANK LONGBOTTOM?" She said a bit too loudly.

A few people around the table stared at them. Marlene suddenly shut her mouth and bit her tongue slightly, telling herself to shut up. She began regretting her actions and cursing her loud voice. Alice widened her eyes. Although she was not angry with Marlene or Lily, she felt rather embarrassed. Lily shot a look at another part of the table, where Frank sat with his friends. He had not heard. Alice sighed with relief.

"I'm sorry, Alice," Marlene said, a worried look overtaking her face. She started biting down on her lip.

"It's fine. It's fine," She said. Alice didn't mind people knowing. She would have only minded if Frankie knew, and seeing how there was no surprise on his face, he must not have heard.

"By the way, Marlene, I would suggest you stop biting your lip now. I'm afraid it's just going to start bleeding." Lily said.

Alice let out a laugh, assuring both Marlene and Lily that they were fine. Lily smiled at her success at uplifting the atmosphere.

"Oh, so, Alice likes Frank?" Lily heard a voice behind her.

She whipped her head back, hoping that it wasn't one of Frank's friends.

"Potter!" Lily said, surprised.

Her expression then changed from surprise to relief to annoyance.

"I'm glad you're so happy to see me."

"Please don't tell, James. It's embarrassing enough as it is," Alice said, pleadingly.

"I won't, I promise," James said. He put his hand to his heart, gesturing that he meant it.

Lily suddenly felt suspicious. "Potter, what are you even doing on this side of the table?" Lily asked, narrowing her eyes at the boy. Lily had purposely decided to sit at the opposite end of the table since first year to separate herself from James. She had a dislike of him and Sirius after they acted horribly to her former friend Severus.

"No-thing. Just visiting my favorite girl." James said, winking at her.

Lily's blood started to boil under her skin. It was obviously an excuse for something else. "You're trying to plan something aren't you? A prank of some kind. Haven't you learned from your one hundred or so detentions?" Lily said, getting frustrated.

It was only the first day, and he would already be breaking a few rules. He was _supposed_ to be an example now.

James winked once more as he walked off towards his group of friends. Lily gaped at him. She watched his back as he disappeared down the table to meet his friends, who had already started smiling mischievous grins.

She suddenly heard huge fits of laughter from all around the tables. She looked up, trying to figure out what the commotion was about. She gasped as she looked up at the teachers' table.

The whole row of professors had suddenly turned all different colors. It was a true rainbow.

Professor McGonagall, who sat at the right end of the table was a rather deep crimson. Even her hair was red (though not the natural shade of red, like Lily's). Professor Flitwick, who sat near the Ravenclaws, was a bright yellow, all the way down to the end of his formerly white beard. Professor Sprout, who was a deep shade of forest green (fitting for a herbology teacher), was in front of the Hufflepuffs. Even Professor Slughorn, the head of Slytherin, was pranked. The sky blue color did match him very well, though. A few other teachers were other colors, such as: orange, brown, black, white, purple, etc. Hagrid was even turned a bright shade of hot pink! The funniest was Dumbledore, though. From head to toe, he was striped with all different colors of the rainbow.

Lily had a look of both amusement and irritation, but she swiftly changed her expression into irritation and snapped her head to stare at the now laughing group of four people. She glared at one of the four menacingly, though.

McGonagall stood up, a stern look in her eye. She was, however, laughing at Professor Dumbledore's appearance a few minutes before.

"Who is responsible for this?" She said loudly, as if she didn't already know who they were.

Everyone started to quiet down except for the group of Marauders. Their laughter echoed throughout the entire Great Hall.

Lily couldn't decide if they were either extremely brave or extremely stupid.

"Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. All of you, Detentions EVERY day for the next three weeks," She said strictly, "Now, could you please tell us how to get rid of our colors?" She asked, staring them down furiously.

She was obviously not enjoying being red from head to toe.

"You must say these magical words. 'You will not be punished' and mean it for the spell to be lifted," James said, amusement present in his voice.

Sirius laughed out loud while Peter quietly kept his amusement inside him. Remus was sitting down, reading a book, but Lily saw his smirk. It was clever, she had to admit.

McGonagall turned even redder, if that was possible considering how red she was from the charm, and glanced at Dumbledore. Dumbledore was not angry, though. He was chuckling along with the four ne'er-do-wells.

"Very well. You will not be punished," McGonagall said, sighing with defeat. "But I should take this occasion to remind you Mr. Potter, that you are now a Head along with Ms. Potter. If you can not behave, we may have to replace you. I hope you learn to abide by the school rules."

The stern look on her face was ignored.

"But professor, I had to keep up with tradition. We've been doing this for the past six years to welcome the first years. Plus, I just wanted to do one last prank before I have to act like an example."

Dumbledore let out another chuckle while McGonagall just sat down. She hid a small smile. She never understood how James Potter could be such a disobedient, but such a lovable person.

The rest of the teachers also sat down, continuing on with the feast. The Marauders had a victory cheer as Lily just rolled her eyes and looked away.

Lily got up after a few more minutes into the feast and walked to the other end of the table, meeting a few celebrating boys. Lily interrupted their celebration. Peter was the first to notice the girl, the smile wiping off his face. He tugged at Remus's cloak, indicating that he was worried that she was mad. Remus looked down at Peter as he looked towards the direction Peter was looking. Lily's hands were on her hips but no Lily Potter glare was planted on her face. Remus just gave Peter a reassuring smile. Lily always glared when she was angry and seeing that there was no glare meant that Lily had been slightly amused by their prank.

Remus cleared his throat at his friends, who were on the other side of the table. Lily stood directly behind them. Lily, being Lily, had a book in her hand that she was raising slightly. She swiftly hit the back of both the Gryffindor boys' heads. She hadn't been angry about their little performance, but she just wanted to teach them a small lesson.

"Lily-kins! That hurt," Sirius said after turning around. He scowled at the girl while rubbing the back of his head.

"Come to join us, have you, Evans?" James said, grinning at the girl. Unlike Sirius, he didn't seem to feel the pain of the hit he had just recieved. He got up and once again, put an arm lazily around the girl. The girl moved away from the boy, escaping from his grasp.

She just smirked at both of the boys that now stood in front of her, feeling a bit short in the process. She first turned to Sirius.

"How many times have I told you _not_ to call me Lily-kins."

Sirius snorted and turned to the girl again. "You know you love me, Lily-kins."

"Yes, I absolutely adore you, Sirius. I just worship the ground you walk on."

Lily faked a swoon while Remus laughed at Lily's exaggerated actions.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned towards James once more. "YOU! How did you do that joke of yours. Honestly, though you may be a brilliant wizard, but Charms isn't exactly your forte."

James grinned.

"What are you grinning like a fool about?" She asked, wondering why he was acting so stupidly.

"You just called me brilliant. I already knew I was brilliant, but that was the first you've acknowledged it."

"Stop being such an arrogant toerag, Potter, but just because I didn't acknowledge it out loud, doesn't mean I didn't think it. Everyone knows your a good wizard," She said, turning her head up to stare at him, "Did you get Sirius or Remus to help you? Sirius is good at Charms, especially."

"Thank you for your compliment, Lily-kins." Sirius remarked, smirking.

James was still a little dazed from the compliment Lily had paid him until Sirius started clearing his throat. James finally woke up from the trance.

"Actually, Remus just told me what spell to use and Sirius and Peter helped me perform it." James said triumphantly.

Lily looked at Remus. Remus turned a bit pink, shrugging guiltily. "Fine, but don't do it again, Potter. Next time, you won't be so lucky," Lily said. She turned around to leave before James stopped her.

"Is it just because you don't want anyone else to be Head Boy?" James asked, his lips turning up into a smile.

Lily shook her head. "No. If you're not Head Boy, Remus would be Head Boy. I would actually enjoy him as a partner."

"Thanks Lily," Remus said. He shot an apologetic look to James, but was thankful for the positive remark Lily said about him. It always felt good to be complimented.

Lily left them to return to her friends.

James sat back down next to Sirius and looked across the table at Remus. "Why do you get to call her 'Lily'? She told me that I had no right to call her that back in second year after I did a huge prank on Snivellus. You were a part of it, too. Why is it only me?"

"Because Moony doesn't brag about himself or directly curse her friends." Sirius said without thinking.

James shot him a look. Sirius lifted his hands up in a surrendering position. "It's not my fault you were such an arse back then. We've all grown up now. You just took a little longer than the rest of us."

James groaned. "But I've changed."

"Obviously not in her eyes," Remus commented after taking a bite of an apple on his hand.

"Whose side are you all on?" James asked out loud. He slumped down onto the table, his chin resting on the wood.

"Prongs, I think you should give it up. She doesn't seem to fancy you. Actually, it seems to be the exact opposite." Sirius mentioned, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder to comfort him.

"She'll come around though." James said, glancing towards the end of the table to see a glimpse of a certain red-haired girl. He felt a sudden feeling of a small glimmer of hope. He pasted a lop-sided grin on his mouth as he continued to stare at the girl. "She will, I know it, mate."

"I swear, I think Mooney here has a better chance with her than you do, Prongs." Sirius said, frowning.

"Lily and I aren't like that, you know that. We're just close friends." Remus said, his eyes widening. He had been afraid of everyone misunderstanding their friendship. It was a bit awkward, considering one of your best mates fancied the girl you spent the most time with.

Remus had been accused of fancying the girl more than once, and it hadn't been very pretty. James had refused to speak to him for a few weeks after there was a rumor that they were dating in fifth year. James had only cheered up after Lily paid him a compliment on a potion he made in Slughorn's class.

"You're lucky, Mooney. I wish I had the chance to be friendly with her more." James said, sighing slightly. He had always been a bit envious of their friendship.

Sirius rolled his eyes at his mate. "Why don't you just do what I do? Enjoy the experience of being with other girls. You're just much too absorbed in one, mate. You should experiment."

Sirius was a rather popular fellow with the girls, not that James wasn't. It was just that, James only played around with them if he felt extremely depressed about Lily. He was completely absorbed into one girl while Sirius, he was a different story entirely. He moved from girl to girl as if he didn't have a care in the world. He accepted most girls that came to him, he just usually sent them away too.

"I'm not like you, Padfoot. Plus, there's hope. She said I was brilliant today," James said, reassuring himself more than anyone else.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks to each other and stared sympathetically at their friend. Peter just got absorbed into his food. James, however, was looking over at the opposite end of the table once again.

_One day_...


	3. Chapter 3

It was only the second week of school, but the professors had already piled up work on the seventh years. There were many rolls of parchment due in the various classes. Slughorn was especially driving them up the wall, assigning potions projects involving lots of patience, a trait that James Potter and Sirius Black happened to lack.

James finally ended up throwing his quill across the room. He groaned with frustration.

"What's wrong with those professors? Do they not know we have a life, too, especially when we've only just got back?" He leaned back on one of the couches, putting his hands behind his head.

He was ready for a break.

The four marauders were currently trying to work in the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't really working very well, however. Remus seemed to be the only one actually concentrating. James had only written one line of his essay when he gave up, and Sirius was just being Sirius. Peter, on the other hand, was attempting to work. He was not very bright, though, making it difficult him to process information.

Remus finally put his quill down.

"Prongs, you're just in a bad mood because Lily rejected you when you asked to do the Potions project with her."

While James wasn't looking, Remus and Sirius both shared an eye-roll.

James, who had assumed that being Heads would bring them closer, was obviously disappointed that they actually didn't have much to plan together yet. They had only had two meetings – one with Dumbledore and one with the rest of the prefects. There hadn't been any "bonding" time so far. James wanted to grab the chance to work with her in Potions, but Lily had coldly refused, asking Remus instead.

James frowned at the memory.

"Why's it always you?" James wondered out loud, a loud sigh coming through as he said the words.

"Maybe you should actually talk to her like you talk with us," Remus said.

He was always the voice of reason, even if James usually never listened.

Peter nodded slightly in agreement, still unsure of what to say. He looked a bit confused, so he watched his words so he didn't say something that would make one of them angry.

"But it's Lily. She's not like one of you three. She's .. Lily."

Sirius scrunched up his face with disgust. "It's a mighty good thing you don't think of us like her, mate. That would just be _wrong_."

Remus let out a laugh before turning towards James one more time.

"But Prongs, did you honestly think you were winning her over by flirting and being incredibly arrogant in front of her?" Remus asked.

He knew his friend was a bit dense sometimes, lacking in the common sense department, but not _that_ much. Remus knew that Lily despised James's pranking and foolish ways. Remus tried to explain this all to James, but had he really not understood?

"I never really thought of it that way."

He scratched the back of his head while Remus sighed. He had gone through the same conversation around 100 times, but it never worked out in the end. For some reason, James always forgot his advice.

"Mooney, he's just not used to having to get the girls. They usually just come to him," Sirius added, "And of course, they come to me too. We just happen to have a gift. Well, except for Lily-kins."

James just shrugged. "I just want to talk to her."

James had another faraway look in his eyes. Sirius just shot him another disgusted look.

"It's not that I don't get why you like her. Hell, if you didn't fancy her, I think I'd steal her away, Prongsie. It's just that, I think you should broaden your mind a little. You have tons of other girls lining up to date you." Sirius said.

Sirius understood why James liked her. He would have to be blind not to. He, however, was loyal to his friend. Plus, him and Lily just didn't make sense.

James shot a glare at his best friend. Even if it was a joke, it was not particularly funny. He disliked competition. Plus, Lily didn't give him any light of day, except to either hex him into oblivion or yell at him until she was completely satisfied. This was not helping.

"Don't worry, Prongs. I won't touch your precious Lily."

James just laughed, "Do you think I should ask her out again?"

Sirius groaned.

"Do you never listen to what I say?"

Remus scoffed. "I don't think what you say is very wise either, Padfoot. Just let him be. He'll eventually figure it out for himself."

"Hey, I'll meet you in the Great Hall later. I need to go find Lily." James said, packing up his stuff from the common room. He grinned down at his friends as he got out from his seat.

The Potter confidence was slightly returning.

He started walking towards the door.

"Five galleons he comes back whining." Mooney said, smirking.

"_Ten_ galleons he comes back grumbling to himself and saying he's going to bed early." Sirius said with a smile upon his face.

"You're on."

They then both turned to their friend beside them. "Do you want in?"

Peter shook his head, indicating a no. He never really got caught up in these random bets. He had always tried to be positive, wishing that maybe, one day, Lily would actually give in. Though he _did_ have many doubts.

"You three do realize I'm still here?" James asked while turning around.

He had not yet left the room. He just laughed and walked closer to the portrait.

It suddenly opened in front of him, barely missing his nose.

He immediately noticed the figure that came through. The dark red hair was hard to miss.

"Evans!" He yelled out in glee.

The red-head looked up at him.

"Oh, just the person I was looking for."

James beamed.

"You were looking for me?"

His grin grew even bigger. His friends were surprised his lips didn't start to tear from being overstretched. Speaking of his friends, they were busy making fun of James instead of doing their work.

"Don't get your hopes up, Potter. I was just coming here because apparently, our partners for Potions were changed."

Remus raised his head at the mentioning of his Potions project. He walked towards them and motioned towards Lily to explain.

"Apparently, Frank is getting extremely frustrated over Stebbins and how he's so 'incompetent' at working. He complained to Professor Slughorn, and he agreed to change him. He wants to put Stebbins with Remus and Avery with Sirius, which means we're stuck together."

James grinned.

Remus, however, seemed down. Everyone knew Stebbins was a bit below average in many subjects, especially Potions. "But why does it have to be us?"

Lily turned towards Remus "Slughorn wanted to put Stebbins with someone that could make up for his lack of talent in the subject and since you're good at Potions, he chose you. Then, Frank said he wanted Sirius because they're pretty good friends. I volunteered to work with Stebbins, but Professor Slughorn told me that Stebbins specifically asked not to be placed with me and wanted to be with Remus."

Remus's eyebrows furrowed together. He couldn't think of any reasons why someone would not want to be Lily Evans in a project, especially in Potions.

"Why?"

Lily shot a glare towards James. "He was under the impression that James would hex him if he ruined his chances to work with me."

Sirius, who was listening to this conversation, snickered. He was fine with this partner swap. James would just be moping about Lily the whole time if it didn't work out, and Frank was quite gifted at Potions.

The only people that were clearly upset about this outcome was Remus and Lily. Lily did not want to work with James Potter of all people. She didn't fancy the idea at all. His skill in the subject was fairly above average, but it was obvious that during their meetings to work together, he would not exactly be concentrating.

On the other hand, Remus was slightly dreading working with Stebbins. Stebbins was a nice bloke once you got to know him, but his ignorance and slowness at Potions wasn't easy to overlook. In fact, he had barely earned an Acceptable in the subject. The experience would not be pretty, especially for Remus, who had earned an Outstanding.

James was ecstatic. "Evans, we're partners now."

A wink went her way, which was of course ignored by Lily. She was, however, suddenly wrapped up into a hug.

She squirmed and pushed him away, but her strength was nothing compared to James's. She gave up and instead decided to use another weapon of hers. She used her foot to step on the boy's foot with all her might.

Her small stature made her look like she had no strength at all, but when she focused her energy on one thing, it paid off in the end.

James jumped off her. "Evans! That hurt!"

"Well, that was sort of what I was aiming at."

"But I suppose now we'll be spending extra time together."

James had obviously forgotten the pain. This was exactly the chance he had been waiting for.

"You better cooperate during this project, Potter. If not, I'll just keep you in the dark and do it myself. Or I'll go ask Slughorn to change my partner. I'd rather work with Black or Frank." Lily shot.

"Lily-kins! I knew you loved me!" Sirius called out to her from his spot on one of the couches.

"Just get back to your work, Black!" She called back. She laughed a little. Sirius was always a very good source of amusement.

James, however, just frowned. Nothing he did ever amused her, it just annoyed her. Why didn't she laugh with him?

Lily just ignored James's pouty face and turned on her heels to leave. The portrait swung open, letting her out. She realized that James was following her, but decided to ignore him. She just swiftly headed to whatever destination she was heading towards.

"Evans!"

She was about to completely ignore him all together but he footsteps behind her were getting faster and louder, meaning that he was close.

She suddenly felt a yank in her arm.

"Evans, I do believe I called your name."

He shot her a dashing smile. Well, dashing in the eyes of other girls.

"And _I_ do believe that 'not hearing' someone when you're the only two people in a quiet corridor usually gives the other person a hint."

"But I needed to ask you something."

Lily already had an idea of what he was going to ask. He'd been asking her since fifth year.

"Go out with me, Evans."

"That's not even a legitimate question." She said with a sigh of frustration. She had hoped to avoid this during her seventh year.

"Fine then. Will you go out with me?"

"You've asked me that more than a hundred times, and has the answer ever changed? No, it hasn't. How many times do I have to reject you for you to stop?"

She groaned as she remembered how the past year or two had been for her. Every single week there was a James's confess-to-Lily day. He just never gave up. He was just much too stubborn.

"I suppose a few hundred more. I won't give up."

Lily was now on the brink of losing it. _What _was _with_ this boy?

"Well, I guess I'll have to say it once again then. I don't fancy you, Potter."

Lily wanted those words to shut him up, but apparently they had no affect whatsoever.

"Then, we have a problem, 'cause I fancy you."

"The feelings aren't mutual, so just leave, Potter."

"No. I want to be beside you."

His hazel eyes looked down at her. Lily just crinkled her nose at the cheesiness of the comment.

"Technically, you're in front of me."

James laughed. "You just had to ruin my amazing moment."

Lily was about to speak up about how cheesy that 'moment' of his was, when she suddenly felt an arm around her once again.

James had shifted his position so that he was actually beside her. His arm was draped around her shoulders, just as it had been so many times before.

She moved away again, walking down the hallway. She turned around for a brief moment, only to say one thing.

"Don't ask me out again, Potter!" She called out. A small smile lingered on her lips.

James just grinned. "I won't! Never again!"

Lily turned around before she let out a small laugh.

They both knew he was lying.


End file.
